The socioeconomic burden of coronary heart disease in Korea

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the annual socioeconomic burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Korea in 2005, using the National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data.

Methods: A prevalence-based, top-down, cost-of-treatment method was used to assess the direct and indirect costs of CHD (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision codes of I20-I25), angina pectoris (I20), and myocardial infarction (MI, I21-I23) from a societal perspective.

Results: Estimated national spending on CHD in 2005 was $2.52 billion. The majority of the spending was attributable to medical costs (53.3%), followed by productivity loss due to morbidity and premature death (33.6%), transportation (8.1%), and informal caregiver costs (4.9%). While medical cost was the predominant cost attribute in treating angina (74.3% of the total cost), premature death was the largest cost attribute for patients with MI (66.9%). Annual per-capita cost of treating MI, excluding premature death cost, was $3183, which is about 2 times higher than the cost for angina ($1556).

Conclusions: The total insurance-covered medical cost ($1.13 billion) of CHD accounted for approximately 6.02% of the total annual NHI expenditure. These findings suggest that the current burden of CHD on society is tremendous and that more effective prevention strategies are required in Korea.

Keywords: Angina; Coronary disease; Cost of illness; Insurance claim; Myocardial infarction.

Figure 1

Prevalence of treated coronary heart disease by age and sex in Korea, 2005. CHD, coronary heart disease; MI, myocardial infarction.

Figure 2

Total national cost of coronary heart disease in Korea in 2005 according to subtype.

Figure 3

Direct costs of coronary heart disease by age and sex, Korea, 2005. Direct costs include direct medical cost (inpatient care, outpatient care, and prescribed drug treatment) and transportation cost. CHD, coronary heart disease; MI, myocardial infarction.

Figure 4

Indirect costs for coronary heart disease by age and sex, Korea, 2005. Indirect costs include productivity loss due to morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease and informal caregiver time. CHD, coronary heart disease; MI, myocardial infarction.